Italy vs Ireland - Review

Well, after a dull first half where the Irish were patient, going in to the break 9-3 down gave the Italians hope, although they never looked like scoring throughout the game really. The Irish were in control, the scrum was well contested but the Irish won that as well. The Italian backs didn't offer anything, I said in my preview if the Italians were to stand a chance the Campagnaro would have to impress, and he certainly didn't. The disallowed try towards the end was the one slight spark of offensive flair. One positive was the grit and determination shown in the first half, they didn't let the Irish get away from them and kept fighting. Once the Irish got going however it was clean sailing to the finish for Ireland, and had Sexton played he would have offered even more. It was unfortunate to lose O'Brien in the warm-up, we were all excited to see him back after a 15 month absence from international rugby. However, O'Donnell did do well, scoring a try, and Madigan was impressive when he came on, increasing the pace of the game to kill off the Italians.

There are very few conclusions to draw from this, I expected Ireland to win by 25, as predicted here, and the 23 point victory that Ireland did receive wasn't at all shocking. Joe Schmidt won't be happy with the performance due to the inaccuracies of the Irish performance and won't meet his exacting standards. The Italians tackled and tackled and tackled, and that takes its toll on the body, and they faded after Ghiraldini's yellow card. 204 tackles is a huge amount to make in a test match and 90% of the second half was based in the Italian half. The line out for Ireland was good, big Paul and Toner impressing, but they need to improve for the game against the French, and I'm sure they'll rise to the occasion at the Aviva Stadium. Sadly its the same old story for Italy, and they will just have to regroup and give it their all next week. They have to travel to Twickenham and face another drubbing, and if England perform to a reasonable level there is no reason they can't repeat the 11-52 performance of last year, and maybe go better with players such as Joseph, Watson and May and considering that the Italian backs look stationary and uninterested. Neither side impressed, and yet Ireland still ran out clear winners, is this a case for a relegation system in the 6 Nations? Maybe that's an article for another time...